Washington Education Statistics

As I am getting ready for my adventure to Mom Congress, I have been doing research on the health of Washington state education..........I am finding some interesting results:

Washington ranks 44th in the nation for per-pupil  spending (2008)

Washington ranks 3rd worst in class size out of 40 states and Washington DC
   In 2008-2009, the pupil/teacher for WA state was 19:1.  The U.S. average was 15.3.

Washington ranks last in average compensation among West Coast states.
            It ranks 19th in average salary out of 50 states and Washington D.C.

Washington's average classroom teacher salary rank dropped from 5th to 19th place.

Due to state budget cuts, Washington has 3,684 fewer state funded K-12 educators in the 2009-11 biennium -- student enrollment has increased by more than 6,700 students.

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction:
Washington State Report Card

2009-2010 MSP/HSPE Results

The following lists the grades and the percentage that are meeting standard:
    
3rd grade
            Reading     72.1%       Math         61.8%
4th grade
            Reading     67.2%       Math   53.7%        Writing    61.1%
5th grade
             Reading   69.6%        Math    53.6%
6th grade
             Reading   64.6%         Math   51.9%  
7th grade
             Reading    63.4%        Math    55.3%        Writing  70.3%
8th grade
            Reading    69.4%         Math    51.6%        Science   54.5%
10th grade
            Reading     78.9%        Math    41.7%        Writing  86.0%       Science  44.8%

So, fellow Washington parents, what do you think about this?  It seems to me that there is an issue with class size, education funding and academics.  Can you share with me if you see truth in these statistics?  PLease share :)